Final 5 Moments in a Post Apocalyptic World
by Linkin41
Summary: The last installment in the series. Who dies? Who survives? How does it all end? All will be answered, just out of order of course.
1. Alliances Made

Oh yes, you read right. This is the last installment of the 5 moments series. As to not be entirely confused about what's happening, I recommend reading the first two. Yes those are out of order too, but it'll make sense trust me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

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During the two months of driving and occasionally battling their way through California, Troy had kept a close eye on Annie and Jeff. Well, he kept his eye on them as best as he could. With only three people, the division of duties was difficult to divide up. Which led to Troy freaking out when he found Annie feeding Ben, her staying behind while Jeff and Troy went off in search of supplies. Annie argued that she couldn't just neglect Ben and let him starve. Jeff sided with her. This led Troy to storm off, taking Ben with him to the back of the RV and slamming the door.

It wasn't until they were deep in the Oregon wilderness that Troy began to trust Jeff and Annie again.

"I don't blame you," Annie told Troy while the two of them went hunting, "it was ridiculous, but I don't blame you for how you acted."

"Better safe than sorry," Troy replied, adjusting his quiver of arrows and a pack, "who's taking perch?"

The three of them came up with a new system of hunting. One would climb up to a high point and observe from above while the other would hunt low. If they were lucky, they would come back from a hunt with twice the game.

"You do it this time," Annie responded, "I've been getting better with shooting squirrels and rabbits."

"Wouldn't it be awesome if we got a bear or a deer for once," Troy looked around for the tallest tree.

"If the two of us alone can drag one back, it would be great," Annie replied, pointing upward, "that looks like a good tree. It's sturdy enough."

Troy nodded, "Before I go up, there's something that's been bugging me."

Annie tilted her head in confusion, "Okay?"

"What's up with you and Jeff," Troy asked, unraveling a rope from the pack.

"What do you mean?"

"Is there something going on between you guys?"

Annie sighed, "No. There isn't."

"Are you su-"

"Yes. Positive. It would be horrible timing for a relationship and the only thing on my mind is for the rest of us to survive. We need to do that first."

"Sorry I asked," Troy replied, securing the rope to the tree before tying a knot to his belt.

Annie narrowed her eyes, "You asked that to distract me from the fact that you have a rope. Where did you get that?"

"You remember that couple we ran into at the Oregon border?"

"You stole it from them!?"

"I didn't steal it from them."

Annie's eyes widened as she reached for her walkie, "Jeff, did you steal something from that couple we met at the border?"

"..._Troy is using the rope isn't he?"_

"Why did you steal it from those people?!"

"_You saw her fiancé. He was changing, they had no chance."_

"That doesn't mean-"

"_Annie, his eyes were already yellowing and that 'cut' on his arm was black and looked a lot like a bite. They wouldn't have lasted another hour."_

"But-"

"_You want us to survive right? Having a rope helps."_

Annie gave Troy a glowering look as she spoke into the walkie, "We're going to have a conversation about this later."

"Yes, ma'am," Troy and Jeff both replied as Annie clipped the walkie back at her side.

"You, take point," Annie pointed as she drew her gun and cocked it, "I'm off to hunt rabbits."

Troy nodded, hurriedly climbing up the tree as she stalked off. Once she was far enough, she slowed down her walking. She knew she had to be as quiet as possible if she wanted get any game. As she stepped carefully through the wet ground, she heard rustling to her left. Annie snapped her head in that direction and stilled for a moment, listening for movement. She bolted toward the trees after hearing footsteps, coming to a stop when she found nothing behind the low hanging branches.

"_Annie, come back. You're out of my sight."_

Annie rolled her eyes and picked up her walkie, "I think I might have found a deer. I need to follow it."

"_Don't do this," _Troy pleaded.

"I'm not losing my mind, I'm trying to get food for us," Annie said, "I'll let you know if I need help. Or if I'm really in danger, I'll scream."

"_Be careful," _Jeff's voice cracked in.

"I will," Annie put her walkie away and went forward, hearing a twig snap further ahead.

She went back to her slow careful walk, knowing she was close to her prey. That's when she saw it. A shadow, right in front of her. Annie raised her gun, taking on three steps before something sharp clamped down on her right leg and brought her down to the forest floor. Crying out, she glanced down and saw she was caught in a bear trap whose teeth were sinking further into her leg.

"She's in the trap," Annie heard whispers around her, "she's in the trap. We have dinner. We have dinner."

"TROY," Annie shouted in desperation, fear swelling inside of her chest, "TROY!"

A group of wild men and women jumped out of bushes and closed in on her. Their faces were covered in mud like war paint. They all donned leaves, grasses, and other sorts of plant life for crude clothing. When she noticed one of the women wearing a necklace made of human teeth, Annie knew there was a possibility that her teeth would be strung on that necklace if Troy didn't get here soon.

"She's pink and meaty," she heard one voice say, "perfect for filleting."

"She's calling for a friend. We need to call for our own," Another voice had said.

Annie hastily fired off a shot at one of the wild people, a man screaming and clutching stomach as he fell back. A younger man went to his side to look at the wound.

"ENEMY INCOMING," The woman with the necklace yelled, Annie hearing the rotten ones moving to her left.

"She's a fighter. We need to fix that," a red-haired woman reached down and wrestled the gun out of Annie's hand, tossing it away.

"ANNIE!"

"TROY! WATCH OUT, THERE ARE ROTTEN ONES," Annie shouted, remembering in her panic that rotten ones didn't care for Troy.

"You can warn your friend all you want, but he's outnumbered," the two women laughed heartily.

The two wild women stopped laughing when they saw a fire blazing to the left of them, burning the rotten ones and everything else in its path.

"Don't underestimate us," Annie fired back, pushing herself up and pulling out a spare pistol and pointing to the woman with the necklace of teeth.

The two women ran off in separate directions, the young man dragging away his injured friend as fast as he could out of the burning greenery.

"Troy," Annie called, "where are you?"

"I'm right here," Troy responded, running up to her from behind.

"You had to use the molotov in the middle of the forest?!"

"I didn't have anything else on me! Besides, I just saved you from those crazy people!"

"I am grateful for that, but now we're in the middle of a wildfire! Help me out of this bear trap and we can get out of here quicker!"

Troy got down to the forest floor, putting his full weight on both sides of the trap until it opened. Annie stepped out of the trap, careful not to lean back on her injured leg.

"Do you need hel-"

Troy's sentence was cut short by a gunshot. He crumpled to the ground as he clutched his shoulder. Annie spun around, ignoring the searing pain she felt, and fired off a round. The red-haired woman fell to her knees as Annie's gun slipped out of her hand, blood pouring through the bullet hole between her eyes. She spun back around and picked up Troy, swinging his right arm around her as she gripped his waist.

"Stay with me," Annie pleaded to Troy as she picked up her walkie, "Jeff, Troy has been shot. Get my kit out."

"_I'm glad one of you responded," _Jeff replied, Annie hearing the relief in his voice, _"Don't tell me the two of you are in that fire."_

"Yes, we are and we're getting out. Now please get my kit out and get into the driver's seat," Annie said as she started half-dragging Troy back to camp, "because this fire will spread fast."

"Just leave me," Troy said weakly.

Annie put away her walkie, "What?"

"Leave me," Troy repeated, "I'm only going to slow you down."

"I am not leaving you behind. I've lost too many people I loved and I'm not going to lose you."

Annie stumbled a bit as she scooped up her gun the red-head had taken and put it in its holster.

"What about the rotten ones…"

"Then I'll fight them off. I'm not leaving you here and you're not going to die. Not on my watch and not when I can fix you."

"You can barely walk as...as…"

"I can manage," Annie said as she hobbled on, "We're almost to the RV."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the two of them had reached the RV. Jeff stood outside waiting for them.

"I told you to get in the driver's seat," Annie said as she and Troy reached him.

"I thought you'd need help bringing him inside," Jeff glanced down, noticing how Annie limped over to him, "your leg-"

"Troy is first priority, I'll be fine. You got my kit out right?"

"It's on the bed," Jeff answered as he helped Annie bring Troy into the RV.

"Where's Ben?"

"He's on the bed, I didn't think I had any time to get him into his car seat."

"The car seat shouldn't be in front anyway."

Annie and Jeff carefully set Troy on the bed.

"I'll keep a hold of these two, just get us out of here," Annie said as she looked out the window, "It's almost here."

Jeff nodded and went to the front of the RV, jumping into the driver's seat. Annie got into her kit, finding a clean rag she stuffed in there and pressing it down onto Troy's shoulder. She braced Ben and Troy as Jeff sped out of the burning forest, making sure she kept Troy's eyes open.

"Troy, stay awake," Annie said, keeping her tone as calm as she could.

"I'm tired…"

"I know, but you have to stay awake."

"I can't take...just a five minute nap?"

"No. Keep talking to me."

"I know what you're doing...I've seen this…"

"In movies," Annie gave him a small smile as she finished his sentence, "I watched those with you and Abed."

"Does that mean...am I…," Troy looked at her through half closed eyes.

"I already told you. You're not going to die. Not today."

Once Jeff had made it far enough from the wildfire, Annie got to work. She quickly put Ben in his carrier and opened up her kit.

"Is there anything I can do," Jeff asked as he stepped beside Annie.

"Get whatever alcohol is underneath the cabinet," Annie laid out her tools before looking to Troy, "there isn't any anesthetic."

Troy blinked at her a few times.

"Translation: this is going to hurt a little bit," Annie clarified.

"Which means it's going to hurt a lot," Jeff added as he went to the cabinet.

"More...or less than…," Troy's eyes drifted over to the bullet wound.

"Less," Annie assured him.

"Got it," Jeff came back holding up a bottle of vodka.

"Give him a bit of that in small doses and keep him talking," Annie instructed.

Jeff cradled Troy's head in his lap, giving him a shot of vodka as Annie's forceps dug into the bullet hole. Troy howled as the forceps moved around in his wound, pain shooting straight through his body.

"You said this would hurt," Troy swallowed another shot of vodka, "less than the bullet!"

"Sorry," Annie apologized.

"Troy, focus on me," Jeff said, trying to divert his attention away from the pain, "what happened out there?"

"Annie got out of my sight," Troy said, more awake and alert from the endorphins rushing through his system, "she said she was following a deer. I climbed down and followed her."

Jeff's eyes went to Annie, who finally pulled the bullet out.

"It's out," Annie said to Troy, avoiding Jeff's look and dropping the bullet into a small dish from her kit, "now to stitch you up."

"Well…," Jeff looked at her expectantly.

Annie sighed as she got the sutures from her kit, "Yes. I thought I was following a deer. I was wrong."

"Annie."

She clenched her teeth when he said her name in that particular tone. The tone of 'Annie, don't hold back on me.' 'Annie, no secrets are allowed in this group, that's what you told us.'

"It wasn't a deer," She finally answered, ignoring Troy's hisses as she cleaned the wound and began stitching it, "I fell for a trap. There!"

"Who-"

"Cannibals. Four of them. They had an alliance with the rotten ones and sent them after Troy."

"But he's not-"

"Of course he isn't bitten, like they would anyway, he threw a molotov at them. That started the wildfire. He freed me from the bear trap and one of the cannibals got a hold of my gun and shot him. That's what happened okay? Don't give me a lecture about it, I know I shouldn't have gone away from sight. Just spare me that conversation."

Jeff stared for a moment, "They had an alliance with the rotten ones?"

Annie nodded as she finished, tying the end of the suture in a neat knot.

"It's getting worse," Jeff said.

"All done, Troy," Annie pat his arm gently, frowning when she noticed his eyes were closed, "Troy?"

Jeff looked down, dropping the vodka on the floor beside the bed.

"Troy," Jeff gently shook him, "wake up!"

"No no no no no," Annie panicked, "you can't do this. Not now. Not when I fixed you. I can't let you!"

She made Jeff move aside, getting Troy flat on the bed. She bent his head back slightly to open the airway, hovering above him to feel his breath.

"He's not breathing," Annie told Jeff as she began chest compressions.

"Come on, Troy," Jeff pleaded beside him, "stay with us. You have to stay with us."

"I'm not letting you die," Annie moved up to exhale into his mouth before moving back to chest compressions, "Not today. Not today!"


	2. Loss

Thanks for the reviews guys, I appreciate all of them. Enjoy the next chapter!

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Between broken roads, miscellaneous debris, and empty cars strewn about, getting out of California proved to be much more difficult than the trip there. They were somewhere in the middle of the state, settled on another campground. Shirley, Abed, and Troy were off wandering the grounds, leaving Annie and Jeff in charge of Ben.

It was about four days after Jeff had woken up that most of the pain in his head had subsided, which made him able to stand guard with Annie outside. To Annie's left was a baby monitor, which only emitted occasional coos from Ben who was sleeping soundly inside. Jeff had only gone inside for a moment to get another bottled water and to check on Ben when he heard a shriek from outside followed by a single gunshot. After making a quick check to make sure Ben didn't wake up, he jumped out of the RV door. His eyes immediately fell to Annie, who looked sick.

"Oh my god, I just killed Shirley," Annie looked down at the gun in her hand, shocked and disgusted for the first time since she started using it, "I murdered her!"

He looked down to the body below her. It was Shirley with one clean gunshot through her head. He also noted the tar-black wound on her wrist and her yellowing eyes.

"Annie, that's not Shirley," Jeff tried to convince her, "not anymore."

"It's still Shirley," Annie tried to argue.

"No. Shirley died long before you shot her," Jeff pointed to the bite on her wrist, "and if you didn't shoot her, she would have bitten you and possibly me and then there would have been no one to stop her from getting to Ben. You did the right thing. You saved Ben's life."

Annie looked back down at Shirley, "Did I do the right thing? I just killed Ben's mother."

"You did not kill his mother," Jeff took Annie into his arms, "The rotten ones did. They did this, not you."

Tears rolled down her face as she leaned into Jeff's embrace, her eyes still on Shirley, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you won't see Ben grow up. I'm keeping my promise and I'm going to take care of him."

"Me too," Jeff chimed in, "I'm not breaking that promise."

Jeff and Annie suddenly turned when they heard footsteps coming toward them. Annie raised her gun and Jeff unsheathed his machete, ready to strike. They lowered their weapons when they saw it was Troy running toward them, their concern growing when they didn't see Abed with him.

"Troy," Annie called to him, holding out a hand to prevent him from running blindly into her.

"Abed…," Troy choked out, "he...I...they're tearing him apart right now! They got him!There were too many of them!"

"This isn't happening," Annie said, "this can't be happening."

"Shirley," Troy yelped when he saw her body on the ground, "they got her too. No!"

Jeff swallowed back his grief for a moment, "They are clever."

"What," Annie and Troy said at the same time.

"Think about it," Jeff avoided looking at Shirley, "They sent Shirley first to take both of us out."

"While Troy and Abed were going to be ambushed by the rest of them," Annie looked back to Troy, "Did you three separate when you were out there?"

Troy nodded, "We tried to contact her, but our walkies were gone."

"They swiped them so you couldn't call for help," Jeff continued explaining, looking into the distance, "and I think they're going to plan B."

Annie and Troy turned, seeing an army of rotten ones marching toward them. As she watched them walking toward them, a burning rage started building inside of Annie. No longer was she mourning, she was angry. Angry that those awful creatures had not only murdered her closest friends, but destroyed her life and those still living. Annie stepped away from the boys, cocking her gun and letting out a battle cry as she ran toward the zombie army.

"ANNIE," Troy shouted, "COME BACK YOU'LL GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

He looked to Jeff for help, but saw a crazed look in his eyes.

"Jeff, please," Troy begged, "don't go out there. It's not worth it!"

Jeff kept staring at the rotten ones ahead of him, tightening his grip on the machete, "Too many people have died, Troy. I'm getting my revenge."

Jeff had let out a battle cry of his own as he charged toward the rotten ones, managing to slash through several of them.

Troy watched helplessly for a few moments before deciding to head into the RV. Someone had to protect and care for Ben if Jeff and Annie didn't make it. He went to the back, climbing onto the bed and taking a crying Ben into his arms.

When Annie had finally stopped to catch her breath, she found herself in the middle of a field with dead rotten ones in front of her. Eyes wide, she looked around her and found other rotten ones littered around. Annie had found Jeff in the same state, looking around shocked and confused.

"Did we…," Jeff gestured to the ground.

"I think so," Annie nodded, "are you-"

"No," Jeff answered, "you?"

"No," Annie glanced around once more, "we just killed all of them."

"Yeah."

"I don't remember any of it."

"Neither do I."

"I don't see Troy."

"He's probably inside."

"We should get inside too."

Jeff nodded.

The two of them carefully stepped over the bodies and made their way inside. They jumped back in surprise when they were met by Troy aiming a gun at them.

"Troy what are you doing," Annie asked in disbelief.

"Put your weapons down," Troy demanded, keeping the gun steady.

"This is ridiculous, it's just us," Jeff motioned.

"Put your weapons down," Troy demanded once more.

Annie set her gun on the floor, elbowing Jeff to let go of his machete as she raised her hands. He begrudgingly followed suit.

"Are you both crazy," Troy said, "why would you the two of you run out in the middle of a field filled with at least sixty of those things?"

"I think we just...lost it," Jeff couldn't come up withe a better explanation.

"Neither of us remember any of it," Annie defended.

Troy sighed, "I'm in charge now."

"What? You can't do that," Jeff protested.

"Yes I can. There's only three of us left and you two lost it," Troy explained, "someone has to be the sane one here."

"This was a one time thing," Annie argued, "we also killed every single one of those rotten ones out there."

"But what if you never snapped out it," Troy said, "what if you just barged in here and murdered me and Ben?"

"We wouldn't have," Jeff said.

"I don't know that, not when you both look like that," Troy looked down at their clothes.

"Like what," Annie asked.

"Take a look at yourselves."

Jeff and Annie turned toward one another. Their clothes were splattered with dark red and brown stains. Blood from the rotten ones. No wonder Troy was acting like he was.

"I'm in charge," Troy repeated, "and until I know this won't happen again, I have to supervise both of you if you're ever alone with Ben."

"So, this is how it is," Jeff asked.

Troy nodded.

"Fine," Annie sighed, "can you please put the gun down now?"

"You're not going to attack me," Troy asked.

"No," Jeff and Annie said in unison.

Troy tossed the gun onto the table, letting Jeff and Annie put down their arms.

"Abed and I managed to find one working shower before we were attacked," Troy said, pointing, "It's east of here. Get some fresh clothes and clean up. I'm going to feed Ben. Then we'll discuss where we go from here."


	3. A cure is found

Thank you for reviewing and favoriting, it makes me a happy clam. Enjoy the next chapter.

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It felt like a week since they had been kept in this medical facility, but in reality Annie knew it had only been four days.

"That's about half way to a week," Jeff had responded sardonically when she told him.

When they had set foot inside the medical facility four days ago, Ben had been taken from Jeff's arms and whisked off to a nursery. A day after that the medical personnel and a few soldiers had dragged Troy away kicking and screaming from Jeff and Annie, separating them in different wings of the building. This had led to them being quarantined in their rooms, which thankfully had a small window between so they could see and talk to one another as they waited for the quarantine to be lifted.

"I wonder what they're doing to him," Annie pondered aloud, sitting near the window.

"I don't want to know," Jeff replied, leaning against the window, "knowing might make me want to find Troy and Ben then us getting out of here. Quarantine or not."

"There's several soldiers outside Jeff, they would shoot you on sight," Annie reminded him.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Besides, we're safe now."

"Are we?"

Annie turned her head to look at him through the window, "There aren't any rotten ones in here. They said they would take care of us."

"Yeah, they're doing a great job at that," Jeff scoffed.

"Dr. Smith has apologized several times now."

"Dr. Smith isn't a bad guy. The rest of these people are a different story. We haven't even seen Ben since we got here."

"Dr. Smith promised us that Ben was being taken care of. In fact he's in a nursery with several other babies."

"Until we see it, I'm not sure what to believe."

"You just said Dr. Smith wasn't a bad guy."

"That doesn't mean I trust him."

Oddly, Annie found herself smiling, "The old Jeff Winger is back."

"and the old Annie Edison re-emerged," Jeff returned her smile.

"_You two look like you're in good spirits."_

Annie and Jeff both looked up at the loudspeakers in the corners of their rooms when they heard Dr. Smith's voice echo through it.

"You were eavesdropping weren't you," Annie asked the loudspeaker.

"And if you were, did you take my comments into consideration," Jeff added.

"_Jeffrey, you know that I apologized for how things were handled."_

"It's not enough," Jeff replied.

"_Look, I have good news. The quarantine has been lifted."_

"That is good news," Annie said, "but what about Troy? What have you done with him?"

"_I'm here."_

Jeff felt relief wash over him, "And you're okay?"

"_I'm better than okay. I can't wait to see you guys, you're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you."_

"And Ben," Annie asked.

"_I'll explain when I get there," _Dr. Smith answered.

A few moments later Jeff was released from his room, taking both Troy and Annie into his arms as he stepped out. Annie and Troy returned his hug, the three of them happy to be reunited once more.

"So," Jeff let go of his companions and turned to Dr. Smith, "why can't we see Ben?"

"Because until you get vaccinated, he's susceptible to catching that terrible virus," Dr. Smith answered.

"Vaccinated," Annie questioned, "you mean you have a cure?"

Troy grinned, "When they took me away, it's because they found the virus in my system."

"But...you're not a rotten one," Jeff said.

"He's a carrier," Dr. Smith explained, "he holds the virus but has no effects."

"If he's a carrier, then what about Jeff and I," Annie asked, "we've been in tight quarters for several months! Same with Ben!"

"Here's what makes this interesting," Dr. Smith smiled, "the two of you are immune to the virus. I don't know how or why, but even if you were bitten, you wouldn't have changed. Ben was fortunate enough not to have the virus passed on to him."

Jeff eyes fell to Troy, "You're the cure."

Troy nodded in delight, "I'm the cure."

"The world is saved," Annie smiled sadly, "god if only the others had survived just a little longer…"

"I know," Troy grimaced, "but we have to live on for them. That's why Abed told me to run that day. He was saving me. He knew I had to live. That we had to live."

Jeff nodded before he turned back to Dr. Smith, "If Annie and I were immune, then why quarantine us?"

"Standard protocol," Dr. Smith answered.

"Of course it is," Jeff rolled his eyes.

Dr. Smith clapped his hands together, "Let's get to work, we need to get this cure made and shipped. The faster I make this, the sooner you three get re-united with Ben-"

"And the sooner the world goes back to normal," Troy finished.

"Let's go restart the human race," Annie said enthusiastically.


	4. On the sea

Thanks for the reviews! Suzie, it looks like you have a lot of questions for me. You can send those to my tumblr(link in my profile) and I'll happily answer them! Anyway, enjoy the next chapter everyone!

* * *

"GO," Troy yelled to Jeff and Annie as they loaded as much as they could on the sail boat, "I'LL HOLD THEM OFF! THEY WON'T BITE ME!"

They had made it to Seattle, parking their RV right next to a boat they had spotted along one of the piers. The three of them hatched a plan the night before. Jeff knew Seattle would be teaming with rotten ones and chances of survival were slim for them. Troy reminded them however that rotten ones left him alone and that he took a sailing class their first year. Annie's eyes lit up immediately, understanding what he was hinting at.

This plan is what brought them to the pier, to an abandoned sail boat, with an army of rotten ones heading straight toward them. Troy had been armed to the teeth with explosives, molotovs, and a couple guns borrowed from Annie. Unfortunately, he had run out of ammo and had gotten down to bows and arrows.

"I don't think we can load much more," Annie said from the deck of the sail boat.

"We have the essentials right," Jeff asked from the pier.

"We have our weapons and my kit. There's enough food for all of us and Ben, but we'll have to ration it."

"I'll get Ben," Jeff said, running inside the RV one last time.

"TROY," Annie shouted, "COME ON!"

Troy fired off his last arrow before breaking into a run down the pier and jumping into the sail boat. Jeff jumped out of the RV, handing Ben over to Annie in his carrier, before leaping onto the boat. Troy unraveled the rope securing the small vessel, letting it drift away from the pier as he went to cast the sails. Annie gripped Ben as rotten ones tried to make their way onto the deck, Jeff slicing through them with his machete. Once they were far enough from shore, the three of them looked back at what they left behind. A city in ruin. The space needle collapsing on itself. Their trusty RV that without it they wouldn't have made it this far. They watched as the burning city skyline got farther and farther away, their new destination awaiting them. Juneau, Alaska.

As they sailed on a choppy north Pacific sea, the three of them slowly gained their sea legs. Annie had discovered as she arranged their supplies that the boat had belonged to an elderly couple who lived in Port Angeles. Further inspection by Jeff had found the body of the husband stored away underneath the settee. The trio spent a week speculating on what could have possibly happened to the couple, as they never found the wife on board. Once they exhausted every theory, they gave the old man a proper burial at sea.

The following morning, Annie woke up before the boys did. She made a mark in her travel calendar, one she picked up in Utah, and went to check on Ben. He was beginning to stir, his eyes opening when Annie scooped him up into his arms. She went into the galley to get a jar of baby food and a spoon before going up to the deck. Annie settled the two of them toward the front of the ship, facing the best she could toward the east to watch the sky above her. The early dawn had painted the sky in different shades of purple, pink, and blue. It was the kind of sky she had always wanted to take pictures of, the kind that would make her take up painting. If these were different circumstances, she wouldn't feel so guilty about enjoying the sunrise.

Annie and Ben weren't alone for too long. Troy waved to them as he came onto the deck, plopping down next to her.

"Morning," Troy said groggily.

"Morning," Annie replied, "How's your shoulder?"

Troy shrugged, his left shoulder barely moving as he did, "the pain meds help a lot, but it still just aches."

"It'll take a while to fully heal," Annie said, wiping Ben's face with a bib before sealing the jar of baby food, "I'm also not the best surgeon."

"You may not be the best surgeon, but you saved my life."

"You saved mine too."

The two of them grinned at one another before their eyes went back up to the sky.

"It's a pretty sunrise," Annie commented.

"Yeah," Troy agreed, "I had a dream last night."

"About what?"

"All of us. We were back at Greendale around the study table. We weren't studying, we were discussing some event the Dean was holding. Pierce said something racist, Britta got upset over something. I can't really remember all of it."

"Must have been a nice dream though."

"I miss it."

"Me too."

Annie sighed as she watched the sun come into view, "We should head back down. Jeff will be awake soon."

"And he'll be the last one awake," Troy laughed, "he gets to cook breakfast."

The day after had brought on clouds and vicious storms that had lasted for several days. The little boat came out of it unscathed due to Troy's sailing know-how, but even with the help of Jeff and Annie on the sails he still ended up exacerbating the pain his shoulder. Annie and Jeff decided to let him rest the next morning, the two of them going up to the deck with Ben.

"How long has it been since the virus broke out," Jeff asked as he fed Ben.

"Next week will be three months," Annie answered, "we were stuck in California for a long time.

"Feels like it's been longer than that."

"We've been through a lot," Annie shrugged.

Jeff glanced down at Ben, "Do you want children?"

Annie gave him a wide-eyed look, "Where is this coming from?"

"I'm just thinking about Ben and how we're raising him in a world like...this," Jeff used the spoon in his hand to gesture around him.

Annie's eyes went to Ben, "Before the virus, I would have wanted a child. Now? No, I wouldn't want to raise a child in a world like this. I feel sorry that Ben has to be raised like this, especially without his mother."

"What about after?"

"You still have hope that this will all end?"

"It's better than nothing."

Annie opened her mouth to respond only to be interrupted by Troy running up to the deck with the boat's radio in hand.

"Troy," Annie exclaimed, "you're supposed to be resting!"

"No, this is important," Troy said, catching his breath before speaking into the radio, "Repeat what you just said."

"_This is Dr. Martin Smith and I'm located at a government medical facility. I can see your boat from the watch tower."_

Jeff took the radio from Troy, "Where is this facility?"

"_Juneau," _Dr. Smith replied, _"How many of you are on board?"_

"There's four of us," Jeff answered, grinning at Ben, "Two men, a woman, and an infant."

"_And none of you have the virus?"_

"We're clean."

"_There will be a helicopter sent your way very shortly. Gather only the necessities you need."_

"Roger," Jeff said before he lowered the radio.

"We're saved," Annie said in amazement

"We have to pack," Troy exclaimed before running back into the cabin.


	5. Fifteen Years Later

The last and final chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favorites, alerts and whatever else. Also thanks for sticking around for all three of these installments. Enjoy!

* * *

A sixteen year-old Ben Bennett stood next to a nearly thirteen year-old Izabelle Winger. The two of them looked down upon a memorial for Britta while Jeff, Annie, and Troy stood behind them from a distance.

A few months after the mass vaccinations, humanity started to rebuild what it had lost. It was a year later that the President put in a motion that declared any marked graves a memorial site. Annie got on it quickly to make sure their fallen friends had their names carved in each marble block.

"Do you think they're starting to hate this," Annie whispered.

"If they are, it doesn't matter. We'll keep doing this every year," Jeff whispered back.

It had become a tradition for them to take a road trip and visit each memorial as a way of honoring them.

"Ben doesn't mind," Troy whispered, "he's called me from Shirley and Andre's old house for rides home."

Jeff and Annie looked at him with surprised looks.

"Don't tell him I told you that though, I need to keep my cool uncle rep," Troy said.

"Our lips are sealed," Annie replied.

Ben and Izabelle started heading back to where their parents and uncle were once they figured they spent enough time at Britta's memorial.

"Ready to go guys," Jeff asked.

The two nodded, "Yep!"

"Why don't you two go with your uncle and wait in the car," Annie said to them, "Your dad and I will be a minute."

Ben gave Jeff and Annie a quizzical look while Izabelle seemed to get the idea.

"Come on Ben," Izabelle said while dragging Ben toward the car.

Troy shook his head and followed behind them. Annie went back to Britta's memorial, glancing down at the marble below.

"It's been fifteen years and I still remember it like it happened yesterday," Annie spoke as Jeff went to her side and took her hand, "Pierce, Britta, Shirley, Abed."

"I know. I still have nightmares about it," Jeff said.

"I wish it wasn't them. Anyone but them."

"Britta would have liked Izzy," Jeff's eyes wandered over to Izabelle who was playing a game with Ben and Troy.

"She would have been the cool aunt," Annie laughed as tears rolled down her face, "Abed would've been the cool uncle like Troy."

"Pierce could've been the creepy, weird grandpa."

Annie looked over to Ben, "Shirley would've been so proud of her son. Andre too."

Jeff let go of her hand and embraced.

"I can't tell him," Annie continued, her voice cracking, "I can't tell him that I-"

"You don't have to," Jeff said reassuringly, "not now."

"He'll have to know someday."

"Not now. Just let him be a teenager and have fun."

"I just wish they were here."

"We all do, but we have to live on for them."

Annie nodded, wiping her eyes.

Jeff let go and rested his hands on her shoulders, "Are you ready to go?"

Annie nodded again, "Yeah."

"Let's go then, we can't keep them waiting any longer," Jeff said with a smile, "I'll drive."


End file.
